Nailing machine



23, 1930. J. M. BENJAMIN MAILING MACHINE Filed Oct. 24, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 hwhn hui/ l l Dec. 23, 1930. J. M. BENJAMIN NAILING MACHINE Filed Oct. 24, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 23, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN 1M. BENJAMIN, OF BEVERLY, MIASSACHUSET'IS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MA- CHINERY IORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CGRPORATION OF NEW JERSEY NAILING MACHINE Application filed October 24, 1924.

This invention relates to nailing machines, and more particularly to the nail-supplying apparatus of such machines as those for attaching heels to shoes. Of such apparatus, the loading or nail-transferring portion, and this combined with the nail-distributing portion, are claimed herein, the nail-distributing mechanism per se being made the subject of a divisional application filed October 15,1929,

- and bearing the Serial No. 399,847.

The object of the present invention is to improvethe efficiency and convenience of such nail-supplying apparatus. To this end, there is PiGvlClQCl means for moving the nail-transferring means into co-operation with the support or jack for the work to be nailed, this movement being effected by power'mecha-v nism through connections governed by the operator. Preferably, control is exercised through a lever extending adjacent to the jack. The power mechanism may be so organized as to normally move the transferring means in one direction, as toward its receiving poslion the distributing mechanism. 'e under the control of the operator, the mechanism may be caused to carry the .rring means in the opposite direction, nail-delivering position. The speom'eans disclosed for accomplishing this ides shaft rotatable in opposite direcions, and frictional. connections between the bait and transferring means. Power is ap-. lied both to the transferring means and to is associated istributing mechanism, to efe set their movement, by means driven independently of each other from the power mechanism. T he element of the distributing mechanism thus moved is shown herein as separatin means, which delivers nails one by one from a raceway. This separating means is in the present instance, oined to the power 1 echanism by connections which permit its movement n one direction only. In such moveme it may act to govern the operatorconcrolled means, temporarily maintaining it in its actuated position.

In the accompanying drawings, a single 1 ve embodiment of my invention appears. Here, i

1 shows, in broken side elevation, por- Serial No. 745,684.

tions of a wood-heel-attaching machine-to which my invention applies;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper portion of the machine, disclosing the distributor;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3+3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 44: of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a View in perspective of a nailseparator with the adjacent portions of the raceway;

Fig. 6, in a like manner, illustrates the lower portion of the actuating mechanism for the nail-separators;

F ig. 7 is a perspective view, enlarged, of the cam of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the nailloader; and

Fig. 9 illustrates in perspective the mounting'of the lower nail-drum.

Upon a frame 10 are mounted a jack 12 and a vertically movable head '14, by which pressure is applied to the heels, to hold them in place upon the jacked shoes during the nailing operations. Reciprocating within the jack, through nail-tubes 16, are drivers 18, the nails to be inserted bein supported upon the upper extremities of the drivers in the tubes, and forced by said drivers through the heel-seat of a jacked shoe into a heel pressed against it by the head 14. For supplying nails to the tubes, I employ the apparatus which will now be described.

Carried at the top of the frame is a casing, which is preferably formed in upper and lower sections and 22, respectively. The first of these is shown as smaller than its companion, and is especially intended for holding the nails, one of which is included in each group to be driven. This single nail may be of specialform, as provided with a helical rib, or it may be of different length from those contained in the casing 22. The upper portion of each casing may be provided with an opening normally closed by a cover 23, through which openings access may be had to the interior of the casings, as for the introduction of the nails to be fed. Each casing is shown as having rearwardly diverging upper and lower walls, and just below the juncture of the walls of each casing are supported nail-conveying raceways 24k and 26, belonging respectively to the sections 20 and 22 and inclined downwardly and forwardly through slots in the lower casing walls. From the upper casing there is shown as leading one of these raceways, and from the lower, four, though the numbers may be varied as desired. Surrounding the rear e2;- tremities of the raeeways Q-l and 26, respectively, and closing these portions of the easings, are nail-drums 28 and 30. The upper drum 28 is rotatable about a spindle 27, e3:- tending horizontally from a supporting portion 29 conveniently fornieo with the casing 20 and upon which the upper extremity of the raceway 24: rests. To hold the drum in place upon this spindle, a nut 3i may is threaded upon the outer end of the latter. At one side of the lower casing is pivoted horizontal yoke 31, which extends to the opposite side of the casing, where it is normally secured in place by a pin 32. This engages vertically alined openings in the yoke and in spaced lugs upon the casing. From the center of the yoke there proj er .s inwardly a horizontal spindle 33, about which the drum 30 turns. hen the yoke is fixed in place by ti (2 pin 32, the drum may be held in close engagement with a finished face upon the adjacent end of the casing, thus serving as a closure for it. hen access is desired to the dr .in, as for removing the nails, it is only neces sary to take out the pin and swing the yoke about its pivot. At this time, the nails ma fall from the drum and over a lower inclined surface of the casing 22 into a receptacle placed to receive them. Upon a support 35, held horizontally between the opposite sides of the casing 22, rest the upper extremities of the raceways 26, this support having no e3;- tension upward or downward to be engaged by the nails. The mounting of the upper drum is simple and secure, while that of the lower entirely frees the multiple raeeways from supporting elements wiiich might tend to interfere with the the travel of the nails through them, and also facilitates the removal of the drum for changing the nails. Formed about the exterior of each drum is peripheral series of gear-teeth 36, with which meshes a pinion 33 fast upon a horizontal shaft %0 journaled in the frame supporting the casings, and driven by worm-gearing 42 from a vertical shaft 4-4. At the lower end of the shaft 4A secured a f 'iction-wheel 43, the periphery of which rests against the face of the fly-wheel 48 of the machine supplied with nails. lVithin the drums, blades or buckets 5O elevate the nails as said drums rotate, and allow them to drop upon the upper ends of the raceways, to pass therethrougl'i. The lower wall of each casing inclines downwardly and rearwardly from the race ways, terminating at the corresponding drum, and furnishing a chute by which nails falling from the raceways are returned to the drum.

Each raceway consists of parallel walls forming channels 54:, in which the nails hang with their heads resting upon the upper surfaces of the walls. The nails may approach the forward ends of the casing in (ii ,.e.', with their shanks lying across the tops of the raceways. To arrange the nails in an orderly series, there co-operates with each raceway a positioning member, which may consist of a disk 56 having two peripheral series of teeth or projections 53, spaced from each other by a reduced portion, which comes opposite the channel 54.. These disks are carried by a shaft 60 ournaled horizontally within the curved forward extremity of each casing, the teeth of the disks being in close proximity to and substantially concentric with the curved surface. The disks of both casings are frictionally mounted upon their shaft-s, so they may slip when excessive resistance is offered to their rotation, as by the catching between them and the casingwall of fragments of nails. Referring particularly to the illustration in Fig 1 of the disks of the lower casing, which are arranged in a series, rather than singly, as in the casing 20, there is near one extremity of the shaft a flange 6%, while the other e;;tremity threaded to receive a nut (56. The di. kc spaced from one another and from the flange and nut by collars 68, also loose upon the shaft, and of a diameter substantially that the disks. This is to prevent nails from being drawn in between the collars and casing, and thus clogging the apparatus. at the center of the series, the shaft carries a loose wormwheel 70, with which meshes a worm T2 upon the shaft 44. A spring 74: is interposed between the nut 66 and the end or head of the adjacent collar, servin to press together the whole series of elements, including the disks, worm-wheel and spacing collars,with suilicient force to cause them to normally rotate with the shaft, but to allow the shaft to turn through them when there undue resistance to their rotation. The frictional (i1.'l\l3lg?ff0 may be varied by changing the position of the nut upon the shaft, thus increasing or decreasing the force exerted by the spring. The shaft 60 of the upper casing may receive its motion from the upper shaft 4:0 by way of a vertical shaft 73 and gearing 75.

As the nails proceed along the racewavs. their shanks encounter in each a device which separates the terminal nail of the series from its companions, and discharges it singly. As illustrated, each separatiu g device consists of a disk 76 (Fig. the upper surface of which is inclined downwardly and outwardly. The disk is shown as so fixed upon a shaft 78, iournaled at one side of the COll'CSPOllCllIlg channel 54 upon one of the, raceway-bars, that its upper surface is somewhat below the delivery-surface of the raceway upon which rest the nailheads.. In the periphery of the disk is a depression 80, of a size suitable to receive the shanks of the nails, one at a time; Fixed to the lower extremity of each shaft 78 is a crank-disk 82 having depending from it a crank-pin. The crank-pin of the single discharge device of the upper raceway 24 has joined to it a connecting member a- (Fig. 2), while the crankpins associated with the lower raceways 26 are all united by a rod 86 (Fig. 5), which is suspended upon them, be-. ing supported upon collars 88 fast upon the lower ends of the pins. At the center of the rod 86 is an enlargement 90, in which is a vertical slot to receive a-pin 92 projecting from the lower extremity of a vertical arm of bell-crank lever 9d fulcrumed at the forward extremity of the casing 22. The connecting member 8% of the upper crank-disk is united to an upwardly extending arm of the bell-crank lever. To a generally horizontal arm of the lever 94lis articulated a rod 96, extending v rtically and guided in a bracket 98 (Figs. 1 and 6) projecting from the frame. This rod is sectional, the end of one portion being threaded into another at a connecting member 100. This permits the length of the rod to be varied, and thus the throw imparted through the connecting elements to the separator-disks, to determine the extent of movement of the, depression 80 in one direction. The amount of rotation of the disk in the opposite direction may be governed by the contact of a nut and check-nut 102 with the upper surface of the bracket 98. Rotatable upon the lower end of the rod 96 is a roll 104, which is engaged bya cam 106, the manner of driving of which will later be 'described. In the normal position of the cam, the rod 96 is permitted to rest with the nuts 102 supported upon the bracket 98. At this time, the depression 80 in each separatondisk is alined with the channel in a continuation of the corresponding raceway, while the lowest nail of the series in said raceway lies with its head resting upon the upper surface of the disk, ant. its shank against the cylindrical edge. IVhen the cam rotates, the rod 96 is raised, turning the separator-disk until the depression is opposite the upper racewaychannel 54, so that the shank of the lowest nail enters said depression. Upon the passage of the cam-projection from beneath the rod, a spring 10'? joined to the lever 9 1 restores the separator-disk to its initial position. Therefore, the single nail, which has been thus separated from its companions, is discharged, its fall from the disk being facilitated by the inclination of the upper surface.

From the raceway 24 and each of the raceways 26, the nails discharged by the separating devices enter end raceway-sections 108.

Since here the nails move singly and under.

less momentum than the heavierseries inthe will be properly positioned for upward driv mg. I J

The thus-reversed nails fall into vertical conduits 116 between the back-plate and cover-plate of a tube-holder 118 (Fig. 1), this beingmounted vertically at the forward ends of all the raceways. From the lower extremities of the conduits, tubes 120 lead to openings 122 in a foot-plate 12 i supported upon the frame at a point somewhat above and to the rear of the jack 12. The arrangementof the openings 122 in the foot-plate is in accordance with the nailing design cor-' respondin to the tubes 16 of the jack. The nails are temporarily arrested in the'openings 122 by a shutter 126 sliding in guides against the under face of the foot-plate. A spring 128 surrounds a screw threaded into the footslate. s urin abuttin a ainst the side 0 1 1 b7 a a or tne plate and against an upturned end of the shutter, exerts its force to normally hold openings 130 in the shutter out of alinement with those in the foot-plate. Pressure exerted upon the forward portion of the shutter will bring the two sets of openings into registration, so that the nails which have fallen through the tubes 120 may be delivered.

To transfer the nails from the foot-plate to the jack-tubes, a reciprocatoryloader-block 132 is provided, it appearing in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This is preferably carried at the forward extremity of a bar 13d moving between the walls of the frame 10 in a line just above the top of the jack. In its extreme rearward position, an adjustable stop-screw 136, threaded horizontally through a lug upon the frame, holds nail-receiving openings 138 in the block alined with the openings 122 of the foot-plate. At this time, an adjustable screw 140, threaded through the upturned end of the bar 134:, strikes the shutter 126, so that, when the loader-bar comes to rest, the shutter-openings 130 open communication between the foot-plate and the loaderblock, permitting the nails in the former to be delivered. During movement of the bar in the opposite direction, as adjustably determined by the contact of a stop-screw 142 which it carries with a portion of the frame, the nails are held in the openings 138, supported by a shutter 144 (Fig. 8) pivotally mounted to move across the under face of the loader-block. It is normally held to close the openings by a latch 146 guided by screws 147 to slide upon the block. This latch retains the shutter against the pull of a spring 148 tending to draw it clear of the openings. The spring is shown as extending between the outer edge of the shutter and the adjacent extremity of the latch, so that the shutter may not only be drawn by it away from the loader-block-openings, but the latch 146 is also held in its shutter-engaging position. Threaded through the latch and projecting forwardly therefrom is a contact-screw 150, which, when the loader is in its naiLdelivering position, strikes against the rear of the jack. This forces the latch away from the shutter, releasing it, so that the spring 148 carries said shutter to its nail-releasing position. The shutter is reset to close the loaderblock-openings by contact of its edge, during restoration of the block to the nail-receiving position, with a projection from the frame of the machine, indicated at 152 in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

For moving the loader-bloci automaticaiiy between its lltlil-lBCGiVlDg and nail-deliverig positions, it has, formed at the under side of the bar 184, a rack 154, with which meshes a gear 156 (Fig. 3) surrounding a shaft 158, which also carries the earn 106. The ge r is about a sleeve 160 keyed upon the shaft 158 and having a flange 162, between which and the adjacent side of the gear is interposed a friction-washer 164, of some such material as leather. The gear is thrust against the washer, and this against the flange, by a spring 166 surrounding the sleeve and abutting at its outer end against a collar 168 adjustably threaded upon said sleeve, so that the force of the spring may be altered. This connection between the shaft and pernits the former to drive the loader in either direction by continuously applied power, the friction slipping when the loader reaches its limits of travel. Also surrounding the shaft 158 are two bevel-gears 170 and 172, the former being continuously rotated through wormgearing 174 (Fig. 1) from a horizontal shaft 176 journaled in the frame 10, tnis, in turn, being driven by we in-gearing 1'78 from the vertical shaft 44. The gear 172 is continuously rotated in the opposite direction through a bevel-idler 180 meshing with it and with the gear 170. At the inner side of each of the bevel-gears 170 and 172 is formed or attached a jaw-clutch member 182. Sliding upon the shaft 158 into engagement with either of the members 182 is a clutch member 184. The shaft is tubular, and contains within it a rod 186 connected to the n ember 184 by a pin 188 passing through a slot in the shaft. Fulcrumed at 190 upon the frame is a clutch-actuating lever 192 having pivotally mounted on it a sleeve 194. At opposite sides of the sleeve are fixed to the rod, to communicate the movement of the lever to it, collars 196, 196. Aspring 198 extending between the lever and frame draw said lever to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3 of the drawings, to normally hold the clutch member 184 in driving engagement with that upon the gear 170. Since, through the gear 170 and the pin 188, the shaft 158 is at such time rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed from the right of Fig. 3, the gear 156 acts upon the rack 154 to move the loader-bar to the right (Fi 1). The bar is thus held normally against the stop-screw 136, the friction at 164 between the shaft and the gear slipping. Upon the forward extremity of the lever 192 is a hand-piece or pad 200, situated at substantially the level of the top of the jack at one side and just to the rear thereof. This is convenient for contact by the hand of the operator as he unjacks a shoe. It is desired that when the lever is moved to the left by the operator, so that the clutch member is separated from the gear 170 and brought against the gear 172, the shaft 158 shall turn over once, to carry the loaderhlock to its nail-delivering position over the jack, the member 1.84 then being restored to its engagement with the gear 170 for the return of the loader-block to its normal positi To effect this, the lever carries a detent 202 mounted to yield against a spring 204. The detent is normally held by the spring 198 in a depression formed in the outer side of the cam 106, which surrounds the shaft 158 outside the frame. Between the cam and shaft is interposed a one-wa clutch of the Horton type, of which the rolls and cooperating contact-faces appear at 208 in Fig. 7 of the drawings and which is off ctive in a ciockwise direction (Fig. 6). lvhen, by the movement of the lever 192 to shift the engagement of the clutch member 184, the operator incidentally withdraws the detent 202 from the depression 206 and then releases the lever to proceed with a heeling operation, the cam 106 is at once started in rotation, a result of the turnin of the shaft 158 by the gear 172. This carries the depression away from the detent, so that the end of the latt r now bears against an annular surface 210 upon the cam, temporarily maintaining the engagement of the clutch member 184 with the gear 172. Under the influence of this rotation of the shaft 158, the loader-bar 134 is moved forward from beneath the footplate 124 until the stop-screw 142 strikes the frame, at which time the loader-block-openings 188 are over the nail-tubes 16 of the 'ack. Then the shutter 144 is tripped, and during the delivery of the nails the friction at 164 is slipping. hen the depression 206 again reaches the detent, the spring 198 is permitted to draw the lever 192 to the right (Fig. 3) ,disengaging the clutch member 184 from the gear 172, and restoring it to driven relation with the gear 170. The loader-block -dS therefore returned to its nail-receiving position beneath the footplate, as has just been de cribed. l ifhenthe loader-block leaves ini advance toward the'jack,

i. re of the screw 140 allows the 12 to close the foot-plate-openings.

.. "'ses the rod 196 and permits it to be lowerer V it and the spring 107, actuating the separator disks to release a nail from theseries in each raceway. These are r versed at 110, and descend through the tubes 120 to the fcot-piate-openings.-

Outlining briefly the entire operation of the app s, it may be said that nails passing from the casings and 22 into the drums 28 and 30 are elevated by the blades therein and received by the raceways, traveling along the channels 54 of these, suspended upon their heads, until they are stopped by the separator-disks 76. In transit, they are acted upon by the positioning disks 56, which arrange the nails properly in the raceways and displace any which may be lying trans-- versely. Clogging and injury to the machine are guarded against by the frictional mounting of the disks 56. and their spacing and driving elements upon the shaft 60. -AS a result of the previous operation of the apparatus, groups of nails have been discharged by these separator-disks and delivered from the foot-plate 124 upon the shutter 144 of the loader-block 132, the shaft 158 of the actuating mechanism being driven through. the

' clutch member- 184 from the gear 170 to hold said loader-block in nail-receiving position. Because of the one-way connection of the cam 106 to the shaft 158 and because itis engaged by the detent 202 of the controlling lever 192, said cam is maintained stationary. The operator, in removing a heeled shoe from the jack 12, presses the back of the left hand against the pad 200 of the lever 192. Thls transfers the engagement of the clutch member 184 from the gear 170 to the gear 172. Opposite rotation is thereby imparted to the shaft 158, and the gear 156 now becomes effective to mov the loader-bar 134 forward. The retreat of the screw 140 from the shutter 126 allows the latter to close the openings 122 in the foot-plate. The direction of rotation is now effective, through the clutch devices 208, to turn the cam 106. This, through. the rod 96 and the lever 94 and its connections, oscillates the separator-disks 76 to pick off a nail from each raceway and discharge it into the lower section 108, where it is reversed by tie member 110 and allowed to fall through one of the tubes 120 to the fcct-plate. The cam thereupon passesaway from the rod 96, and the separator-disks are restored to their normal positions. Meanwhile, the

loaderblock has been advanced over the jack,

effected. .thedetent, which, entering it,-'permits the the alinement of the openings 138 with the tubes 16being determined by the stop-screw 142. Here, as the friction 164 slips, the nails are delivered by the tripping of the shutter 144. Theoperator, having actuated the lever 192 to start the supplying apparatus in action,at once releases it, but the clutch-section 184 is for the time maintained in engagement with the gear 17 2 by the riding of the detent 202 open the surface 210 of the cam. At the completion of a single rotation of the shaft 158, the nail-delivering action has been fully he depression 206 then reaches lever 192 to return to normal, carrying the clutch-section 184 into co operation with the gear 170. This moves the loader-bar 134 oppositely, or to the rear, until the contact of said bar with the screw 136 alines the loaderblock-openings with foot-plate-openings, the

shutter126 being at this time moved by the 1.'In a nailing machine, nailing mecha 1..

nism, a nail-distributor having a movable. discharge vdevice, movable means for transferring nails'from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, power mechanism, and means driven independently of each other by the power mechanismfor moving respectively the discharge device and transferring means.

2. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a naihdistributor having a raceway and a movable nail-separator cooperating therewith, a loadingdevice movable to transfer nails from the distributor 'to-t-he nailing mechanism, a shaft, connections between the shaft and the separatorand loading device, and operator-controlled means for rendering said connections effective or ineffective.

3. In a nailing, machine, a nailing mechanism, a nail-distributor having a raceway and a movable nail-separator cooperating therewith, a loading device movable to transfer nails from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, a shaft, means for rotating the shaft in opposite directions, connections between the shaft and loading device, and con nections between the shaft and separator transmitting movement in one direction only.

4. In a nailing machine, nailing mecha nism, a nailrdistributor having a raceway and a movable nail-separator cooperating therewith, a loading device movable to transfer nails from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, a shaft, means for rotating the shaft in opposite directions, frictional c011- nections between the shaft and loading device,"connections between the shaft and sepill arator transmitting movement in one direction only, and operator-controlled means for reversing the rotation of the shaft.

5. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a nail-distributor having a raceway and a. movable nailseparator co-operating therewith, a loading device movable to transfer nails from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, a shaft, a cam and gearing respectively arranged to actuate the separator and loading device, and means for communicating the rotation of the shaft to the cam and gearing.

' 6. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a nail-receptacle, a plurality of movable means for governing the supply of nails from the receptacle to the nailing mechanism, driving mechanism, variable connections between the driving mechanism and the supplygoverning means, and operator-controlled means arranged to shift the connections, the connection of one of the supply-governing means acting in its movement to control the operator-controlled means.

7. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a nail-distributor having a raceway and movable nail-separators co-operating therewith a loading device movable to transfer nails from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, a shaft, continuously rotating members carried by the shaft, a double clutch for securing either of the rotating members to the shaft, a gear frictionally mounted upon the shaft and acting upon the loading device, a cam arranged to actuate the separators, a lever for operating the double clutch, and means associated with the cam for controlling the lever.

8. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a nail-distributor having a raceway and movable nail-separators co-operating therewith, a loading device movable to transfer nails from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, a shaft, continuously rotating members carried by the shaft, a double clutch for securing either of the rotating members to the shaft, a gear frictionally mounted upon the shaft and acting upon the loading device, a cam arranged to actuate the separators, a one-way clutch connecting the cam to the shaft, a lever for operating the double clutch, and means associated with the lever for preventing rotation of the cam in one direction.

9. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a nail-distributor having a raceway and movable nail-separators co-operating therewith, a loading device movable to transfer nails from the distributor to the nailing mechanism, a shaft, continuously rotating members carried by the shaft, a double clutch for securing either of the rotating members to the shaft, a gear frictionally mounted upon the shaft and acting upon the loading device, a cam arranged to actuate the separators, a lever for operatin the double clutch, a spring arranged to move the lever in one direction,

and a contact member carried by the lever and engaging the cam.

10. In a nailing machine, a work-support, movable means for transferring nails into cooperation vvith the work-support, powermechanism for moving the transferring means, and means movable by the operator to connect the power mechanism to the transferring means.

11. In a nailing machine, a work-support, movable means for transferring nails into cooperation with the work-support, continuously acting power mechanism for moving the transferring means, and means movable by the operator to control the application of power to the transferring means to produce travel. in one direction, the power mechanism normally acting to move the transferring means in the opposite direction.

12. In a nailing machine, a jack, a loading device for transferring nails into co-operation w't-h the jack, power mechanism for moving the loading device, and a lever arranged to control the power mechanism, said lever extending adjacent to the jack and. being located for actuation by the hand of the operator as he changes the relation of the work to the jack.

13. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a reciprocatory nail-transferring device having a rack, a gear meshing with the rack, and continuously acting means for rotating the gear in opposite directions to reciprocate the transferring device.

' 14. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a reciprocatory nail-transferri n g device having a rack, a shaft, a gear rotatable by the shaft and meshing with the rack, gears rotatable upon the shaft, means for continuously rotating the last-mentioned gears in opposite directions, and means for clutching to the shaft either of the oppositely rotating gears.

15. In a nailing machine, nailing mechanism, a reciprocatory nail-transfer ing device having a rack, a shaft, a gear rotatable by the shaft and meshing with the rack, gears rotatable upon the shaft, means for continuously rotating the last-mentioned gears in opposite directions, means under the control of the operator for clutching to the shaft one of said gears, and a spring normally causing the clutching of the other gear to the shaft.

16. In a na'ling machine, nailing mechanism, a reciprocatory nail-transferring device having a rack, shaft. a gear frictionally mounted to turn upon the shaft and meshing with the rack. and means for rotating the gear in opposite directions to reciprocate the transferring device.

In testimony whereof I have signed mv name to this specification.

JOHN M. BENJAMIN. 

